Baez Hits 3 HRs in Historic MLB Debut vs. Cubs
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- Joshua Baez hit three home runs in his first three at-bats to become the first player in MLB history to homer three times in a major league debut, driving in five runs in the Cardinals' 8-4 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Saturday.
- Baez launched a 449-foot shot into the left-center bleachers on the first pitch he saw — the third-longest debut homer since ESPN began tracking distances in 2006, behind only Jason Heyward's 476 feet in 2010 and Aaron Judge's 457 in 2016.
- The 23-year-old Baez leads all of Triple-A with 34 home runs this season (including a four-homer game at Memphis in June), ranks as the Cardinals' No. 4 prospect and No. 93 overall by ESPN's Kiley McDaniel, and is the first St. Louis player to homer in his first career plate appearance since Lane Thomas in 2019.
- Cubs starter Matthew Boyd absorbed the full assault, allowing all three Baez homers plus solo shots from Blaze Jordan and Alec Burleson across 5⅓ innings (seven runs, five hits, three walks, two strikeouts).
- Michael Conforto answered with a three-run homer in the second inning that briefly tied it at 3-3; Baez's opposite-field two-run shot in the sixth broke it back open and chased Boyd from the game.
Why it matters: Baez's 449-foot debut blast places him in the same power bracket as Jason Heyward and Aaron Judge on debut night — the only two rookies with longer debut homers since ESPN started tracking in 2006. For the Cardinals, calling up the No. 93 overall prospect produced three homers and five RBIs in his first day, immediate middle-of-the-order production from a player who had already shown a four-homer game at Triple-A in June.
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